Governor LePage Swears In, At New Constitutional Officers

AUGUSTA — Democratic constitutional officers took over three state agencies Monday after being sworn into office by Gov. Paul LePage. Two of the officers, Attorney General Janet Mills and Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, returned to the posts they left in 2010 when Republicans took control of the Legislature. Mills became the state’s top lawyer, replacing William Schneider. Dunlap replaced Charlie Summers and now oversees elections and a state bureaucracy that includes the Division of Motor Vehicles, the business corporations division and the Maine State Archives. The third officer sworn in Monday, State Treasurer Neria Douglass, replaced former Republican treasurer Bruce Poliquin. The constitutional officers are elected by the Legislature and are included in that branch of government. However, all three of the Republican officers who stepped down Monday forged activist reputations and were closely aligned with the Republican agenda advanced by the Legislature and LePage. Poliquin especially elevated the profile and partisan tenor of an office that typically went unnoticed. (read more at Kennebec Journal)